Fata Morgana Coils of Hope, Fear, and Tragedy
by magusxamus
Summary: A routine mission for Violet and Mirage quickly spirals out of control. Can Violet conquer her sinister reflection or will she come to the conclusion that life itself is nothing more than a mirage? Yuri/femslash girl x girl. Rated for dark themes and future intimacy between two adults of the same gender.
1. Reflections

A bit of an author's note over here. It typically takes me forever to write because I have a rather difficult time concentrating long enough to form a coherent story. This week I completed a moderately sized chapter in a single week I'm rather proud so hopefully the story is not much of a mess and I will be able to provide updates at the least every couple of weeks. Anyway on with the show and I hope you like it. Also it took me FOREVER TO FIND THE LINE BUTTON! BY THE GODS!

* * *

Dank, shadowy, abysmal, limited decor all in all it almost looked like the countless other villainous hideouts Mirage had infiltrated over the past four years since she began working for the N.S.A. One of the more notable exceptions were the strange glowing runes that seemed to adorn the entire hideout, she had been informed of the possibility of magic but she thought that was just Dicker being paranoid. Still though considering all she has seen over the years the revelation of magic didn't faze her as much as the mechanized tyrannosaurus wearing a top hat. Suppressing the urge to giggle at the thought of Tronasaurus' various attempts to wreak havoc Mirage took another picture of the runes using a camera hidden in her glove. She may have hated the bureaucracy of the National Supers Agency but she certainly loved the toys even if they weren't quite as advanced as Syndrome's they got the job done. Speaking of jobs her current assignment was unfortunately taking far too long, it couldn't be helped however since there were too many unknowns even with her back up not far off Mirage had to take it slow. She had yet to encounter any guards or even another room, it seemed like this place was an endless hallway that merely led to another hallway and so on. The sound of the stone shifting interrupted her musings as two men dressed in what could have been dark brown robes emerged from a hidden panel in the wall. The problem with a constant series of hallways was there was very little room to hide and unlike a certain someone Mirage lacked any means of turning invisible. Weighing her options within the fraction of a second Mirage charged the duo hoping to catch them before they could react. Bringing her right knee up Mirage thrust her leg out into a powerful sidekick hitting the first man in his side and knocking him right into his companion. Literally pouncing upon the opportunity Mirage attacked the second man with a vicious blow to the head knocking him out. Before she could turn her attentions to the first man she noticed the chaotic sparks of electricity arcing their way out of the man she was on top of doing more damage to his companion than to Mirage.

"Uhh is that jumpsuit of yours insulated?" The man asked once he realized his attack had no effect. Mirage answered with a punch to his face.

Once she was sure the two men were incapacitated Mirage typed the passcode into her glove that would contact her backup. Not wanting to make the same mistake Helen did six years ago Mirage opted to use a soundless coded signal to communicate with Violet. The code went as follows; Mirage would send a signal to a device in Violet's glove which would quietly vibrate. Should the coast be clear on Violet's end she would communicate verbally, if the coast wasn't clear Violet would signal back to Mirage. After a few seconds Mirage received the signal indicating things were not clear on Violet's end. Cursing under her breath Mirage quietly stepped into the room the two men had emerged from.

Cabinets, cupboards, tables, all littered with scrolls and papers in a manner that suggested that these supposed cultists didn't care much for organization. Unlike her Violet, but then again if they had to grow up with Bob and Dash's various messes they might have developed a mild case of O.C.D. as well. Mirage suppressed another giggle as she tried to banish the various images of possible reactions Violet would have if she saw this mess.

'Really Mirage.' The spy thought to herself. 'You should know better than to-' The faint sound of scuffling feet interrupted her reverie and within the span of a second she dropped the papers she had been going through and drew her primary pistol from its holster at the right side of her hip. Glaring down the iron sights of her laser pistol Mirage gazed at the terrifying sight of… a mouse waggling its whiskers at her.

'Odd up until those two cultists appeared I haven't seen any signs of life at all.' The way the rodent stared at her was unnerving however, pointing her primary pistol at the rodent, she decided better safe than sorry. After all she had heard countless tales of a certain hairless mole rat having thwarted the bad guys, who's to say the bad guys haven't got one of their own? Before Mirage could even pull the trigger though the rodent leapt at her its body twisting, contorting, growing until it had adopted the form of one of the most dangerous creatures known. The form of man.

"Shifty…" Mirage hissed through gritted teeth as she struggled to free herself from Shifty's elongated arm as it wrapped around her upper body pinning her arms to her sides. "I wasn't aware you learned how to change your mass."

"That's not all thanks to the boss I can even make clothing out of my own skin now!"

"And yet you still choose to form that tacky suit? Really Shifty you look more like your about to go to some cubicle at a dead end office job. And with that haircut I'd say a cubicle at some insurance company."

"Hey!" Shifty exclaimed evidently far more offended than Mirage had anticipated. "Chicks dig the suit! Speaking of suits I am digging the white body suit, had I known female agents of the N.S.A. dressed like this maybe I would of joined up with them."

"Have." Mirage corrected.

"Excuse me?"

"The correct way of saying that is "I would have joined up". If you lived with the person I do you would learn to speak properly all the time too. Also this suit isn't for you." With that Mirage fell to the ground hoping to knock Shifty off balance. Although Mirage's actions took him by surprise Shifty elongated his arm further to accommodate for Mirage's actions. Still this leeway allowed more than enough room to bring her foot square between Shifty's legs. Taking advantage of Shifty's slackened grip Mirage immediately jumped back to her feet and drew her secondary pistol as well. As Mirage unleashed a barrage of laser fire at the rogue super, Shifty's form flowed and slithered as he transformed into a serpent barely managing to avoid the worst of Mirage's gunfire.

While Shifty slithered away from Mirage's onslaught he weighed his options. Survival took precedence over his bosses' fury and with that he shouted; "Arcaniss bex!" What followed was chaos as the walls, floor, and ceiling reconfigured.

* * *

'A mad man must have designed this place!' Violet thought to herself as her quarry descended down yet another spiral stair case. She had followed this strange figure through what seemed like an infinite amount of corridors only to give way to one spiral stair case after another with only a brief hallway breaking up the monotony. The quarry was as far as she could tell unaware that she was following him, just to be sure Violet made sure as to avoid the worst of the cobwebs and dust that littered this infuriatingly dirty place. As amusing as the prospect of him turning around to see a seemingly floating web covering her invisible form she didn't know what the man was capable of as such she refused to risk exposure. That and the idea of being covered in a dirty cobweb nearly made her gag, she couldn't begin to imagine how much it would distract her in a fight. Plus she could just hear the endless lecture her mother would give her; "That was a mission missy not a picnic!" or "I knew partnering you up with Mirage was a bad idea, she never takes anything seriously and her bad influence is affecting you now!"

"Sounds like your mother is quite the fussy lady."

"…Oh crap you can read minds." Violet stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her quarry turned around allowing Violet to finally not see the face of the man she had been shadowing. The tall, lanky man opted to wear a flowing, immaculate, white robe seemingly unmarred by the sea of dust and debris of the hallways the two had traveled through. Hiding his face was an equally clean white helmet with a crest that curved upwards from the top not unlike certain exotic birds. The only blemish on the helmet was a glowing circle on the face plate which Violet assumed was the man's eyes.

Briefly contemplating how well one could see in such an object, Violet unleashed a wave of force upon her opponent sending him careening over the railing of the spiral staircase.

"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! I just meant to knock him down! That shouldn't have been enough to push him that far!" Violet nearly screamed as she frantically ran to the railing. Hesitating for a brief moment before tentatively looking over the edge the sight that greeted Violet was at once very nauseating, slightly comforting, and incredibly worrisome. Despite falling nearly sixty feet the man had gotten up and if the sickening cracking and squelching sounds were any indication he was popping his shattered limbs into their rightful places. "You can regenerate too?!"

After a brief but futile attempt at cleaning his bloodstained robe the man looked upward. "Looks like you really can't control yourself can you my dear?" The man calmly stated as he walked out of Violet's sight.

"He's just trying to mess with me." Violet whispered to herself as she tried to calm her rapidly fraying nerves. "Okay I can do this."

And with a great heave Violet hurled herself over the railing. Concentrating just like she first did with Mirage a few weeks ago, Violet created a form fitting force field around her body and closed her eyes as the ground rapidly approached. She expected the brief pang of mental anguish that occurred whenever her force field was struck by something large, but what she didn't expect was for her force field to still be intact let alone the fact that she was still standing. "Looks like all those "training" sessions with Mirage paid off." The young super said with a wry smile as a blush graced her features. Before Violet could celebrate her little victory a tremor that shook though the entire complex signaled that both the stair well she was in and the adjacent hallway had begun to collapse. "Of course they have a ceiling crushing trap as well!" Violet shouted in frustration as she ran down the ever narrowing hallway.

* * *

"Well now this is certainly getting interesting…" Mirage had chased Shifty out into the jungle and was alive and well despite the efforts of the various bits of shifting hallway that just tried to put a premature end to her life. Now though it seemed Shifty had a few more tricks up his sleeve as he had taken the form of a large t-rex like creature with three heads. Despite Shifty's newfound prowess with his shape shifting the creature that Mirage gazed upon now looked like it was only tenuously held together with webs of brown flesh and scales barely holding its exposed musculature together. "The problem with that form is you give me one hell of a target!" Mirage then unleashed three blasts of laser fire from her pistols but for each blast that found its mark the flesh bubbled briefly before another monstrous dino head erupted forth.

"Fool I AM the most powerful crook ever!" All six of Shifty's heads roared in unison.

"Most interesting. Well Shifty I must say I am impressed." Despite her bravado Mirage was desperately trying to think of a way to defeat this behemoth while she dodged its various snapping maws, Mirage dove underneath Shifty only to be kicked aside. Thankfully the mutated monstrosity's legs were not exactly made for kicking and although Mirage was winded nothing appeared to be broken. "All things considered I think I'd rather get kicked than listen to his…" It dawned on Mirage that if a head sprouted wherever she shot than maybe… "Okay Shifty you're not the only one with a few tricks!"

* * *

Just when she thought her lungs would give out and sparing an idle thought as to where the hell the robed man was she leapt out of the hallway and into a large chamber just as the hallway completely collapsed behind her. While Violet attempted to catch her breath she tapped the hidden button in her glove signaling Mirage.

"Invisigirl you okay?" The question was punctuated by grunts, laser fire and the general sounds of combat.

"Yeah, relatively speaking anyway… so what's going on with you?" Violet said hoping Mirage could hear her over her haggard breathing.

"Oh you know the- will you stop doing that!" Violet could hear a frustrated grunt followed by a loud roar. "Sorry about that Shifty lured me outside so he could have enough room to transform into some giant t-rex thing that keeps sprouting more heads. Anyway you- damn that was close. You remember the code phrase?"

"Yup." A few years back the N.S.A. came up with various code phrases for their teams just in case a shape shifter like Shifty tried to infiltrate them. An idea initiated by her brother of all people needless to say everyone was both surprised and impressed by his foresight.

"Good I'll talk to you later this shouldn't take long." And with that Violet was left with radio silence.

Briefly looking around the chamber for anything suspicious and finding nothing other than the colossal, stone double doors Violet decided to bite the bullet and go over to them. The stone doors each depicted scenes of destruction being perpetuated by terrible creatures borne of nightmares. Despite the rampant destruction and slaughter presented there were still people depicted as bent down in worship of these beings. "Okay things are getting really creepy here I mean seriously who would worship those things?" As if to respond to the super's query the double doors grinded open revealing a room that was a mix between library, science lab, and throne room. The same woeful décor of cobwebs and dust permeated the room like all the others before it. Chemical beakers filled with liquids that Violet dare not contemplate sat side by side with what she assumed were tomes of arcane lore. However the nauseating smell emanating from the various beakers and tubes took a back seat to the grey robed figure that abruptly stood up from the throne at the far end of the room. One might have been drawn to how out of place her grey robes where, that might be the case had Violet not encountered a robed meta human prior to this encounter. Or one might find it odd that the sclera of the robed woman's eyes were pitch black however this did little to unnerve the young super. No the thing that Violet found most disturbing was the fact that the robed woman shared her face. Normally round cheeks and shy smile hardened into a scowl, jet black hair spilling over to cover half her face just like Violet herself wore her hair all those years ago. The being exuded an aura of spite and hatred so great that Violet was forced to take a step back and struggle for breath as the other woman's aura seemingly drained the very oxygen from the room.

"Clone or alternate universe?"

"Take a guess!" The robed woman snarled as she raised her hand and unleashed a volley of energy beams.


	2. Seeds of Fear

Not much romance going on this chapter but I hope to depict Violet's and Mirage's relationship in a slightly more casual setting later on in the story. Maybe next chapter. Anywhoo some exposition and whatnot.

* * *

Violet Parr had experienced relatively few instances where her force fields could not protect her. The first time with the plane was due to her fear. The second time against the Omni-droid was primarily due to her inexperience fighting such adversaries. The third time she was under sustained assault and protecting an entire theme park. But even under those circumstances, where her powers failed, her super suit or friends and family protected her. Now however she was alone facing an opponent capable of piercing both her force fields and her super suit. The blood seeping from the gash in her arm mingled perfectly with the red of her suit but clashed furiously with the black. Weighing her options Violet figured if her force fields couldn't protect her maybe a more direct application was necessary. Extending her arm Violet created a form fitting force field around her doppelganger unlike the malleable one she had used on herself however, she had made this one far more restrictive. The young woman didn't want to take any chances with a mage so not only could her counterpart not move her arms, she couldn't even move her jaw.

"Evil cultists, magic, and an alternate me, just what the hell is going on?" Knowing that the figure encased in her force field couldn't possibly respond to her rhetorical question it came as a bit of a shock when she heard a response anyway, followed by a sharp pain in her neck. Upon feeling the pain Violet immediately concentrated on forming a solid wall of force behind her and pushed it in the direction of her adversary. A grunt of pain told the young super that her attack had found purchase, quickly sparing a glance up at where her containment force field should have had her restrained double she saw that it was in fact empty. Quickly placing her hand to her neck while she turned to face her alternate self, Violet's breath caught in her throat as she saw the empty syringe in her doppelganger's hand, various scenarios playing through her mind in moments each more horrible than the last. "W-what did you do to me?" Violet said hoping the light headedness was just her over active imagination.

"An experiment." The doppelganger said as she untangled herself from the chair she was thrown into, seemingly oblivious to the various beakers and tubes spilling their contents onto her robe. "And yes that was an illusion you had trapped, not exactly my forte but it got the job done." Violet tried to concentrate on her double's monologue hoping that she would give up some valuable information as these villains always do, but the nausea she was currently experiencing was making it quite difficult to stand let alone listen. "You see I came from a world where _you_ were too weak to protect her… too weak to protect anyone." The double than grabbed Violet cupping her face in her hands, and while Violet was glad she had something steadying her the depths of madness she saw in her double's eyes quickly dissolved anything even resembling confidence. "But everything is going to be okay you will see, _everything_ will be all better soon."

Violet tried to keep standing. She did not want to be left at the mercy of this thing's insanity, despite being in no condition to defend herself, alas as soon as her double released her darkness enveloped Violet before she even hit the ground.

* * *

Mirage had always subscribed to the view that skill and finesse could outmatch brute strength any day of the week. Her battle with Shifty did nothing but reinforce this mindset. The super spy had no idea why Shifty's shape shifting power was currently so unstable, but then again so long as it continued to work to her advantage she didn't much care. While Shifty's bulk in his monstrous tyrannosaurus rex form gave him the initial advantage, Mirage quickly deduced that since where ever she shot him another rex head would appear all she had to do was repeatedly shoot him in the legs. And so far her theory had proven correct, for every failed lunge that Shifty attempted Mirage would shoot him in the legs, and for every shot to the legs another head would sprout. This kept going until Shifty had so many dino heads growing from his legs that could longer bend his knees let alone attack Mirage, and with a resounding boom Shifty's monstrous form came crashing down. "Greatest crook ever huh?" Mirage snidely asked as she leveled one of her pistols at the horror's snout.

"Please… don't it hurts, everything hurts…" Having a mutant t-rex beg for pity would probably give anyone pause, out of shock if nothing else. Unfortunately for Shifty since he had been trying to eat the super spy alive a few moments prior, Mirage was fresh out of pity for his "plight".

"If you don't want to see how many heads I can make you grow start talking. You know the usual; why are you here? What your evil plan is. The works."

"I do believe you may not have time for that." Mirage without taking her eyes off of Shifty immediately pointed her secondary pistol at what she believed was the head of the person who spoke. "I see you are indeed not just a pretty face, able to target me using the sound of my voice and my reflection off of Shifty's eyes."

"Let's keep this simple as I am beginning to run out of patience…"

"The Fairy Morgana that is the code phrase should you and Invisigirl encounter a shape shifter, correct? Is it not a little obvious?" Genuinely startled and beginning to worry for Violet's safety, Mirage started to back up so that she could keep both the newcomer and Shifty in her sight. The newcomer seemingly aware of her intentions calmly strode into view, revealing a man in a tattered robe its formerly immaculate white marred by stains of blood. His bizarrely covered head cocked to the side briefly as if in amusement. "The blood is not Invisgirl's, but there is indeed need for worry."

"If you did…" A raised hand cut off any threat Mirage was about to make in response to the man's cryptic words.

"Please Miss Mirage you are in no position to make threats. For that matter there is also no need, for I propose a trade." The man then gestured toward the passage that both Shifty and herself had used to escape from the collapsing ceiling. "The complex, thanks to my companion's poor judgment has reconfigured, that passage will take you directly to Invisigirl and while you retrieve her I can tend to Shifty. And although I know there is almost no point it saying this you can trust me in this particular instance."

"Dammit." Mirage swore under her breath as she ran towards the passage hoping that Violet was okay and that she wasn't running head first into a trap.

After watching Mirage quickly retreat back into the complex the robed man turned to Shifty who had slowly and painfully begun to regress into something that almost resembled a humanoid form. "My my, Shifty just what are we going to do with you?"

* * *

Violet hated being sick, and not simply because being sick usual meant the leaking of various fluids. No, the thing that Violet hated most about being sick was that she couldn't push herself too hard with physical activity and that equated, in her mind at least, with being static. The young super never wanted to simply sit back and let events unfold around her, no, after the events of Nomanisan Island Violet always wanted to either be there when events unfold or help cause them. A sentiment that on more than one occasion clashed with her hatred of unnecessary messes but no one was perfect. Needless to say waking up in a hospital room was somewhat disheartening although considering her previous situation it was an improvement. Looking around the sterile white room at all the high tech equipment, far too high tech for a mere hospital, equipment that she herself had helped either move or assemble further eased the tension that was rising. Dr. Sunbright, it was one of the hospital rooms of the man who had delivered her and her brothers when they were born. Often he was called by the N.S.A. or supers themselves when they needed a doctor more accustomed to the more fantastic needs of supers. All these thoughts of course faded into the background when she noticed the platinum blonde in the white spy suit standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.

"How are you feeling Vi?" Mirage tentatively asked as she moved closer to Violet's bed.

"Wait!" Violet nearly screamed as the nausea and memories of what happened returned. "I was injected with something. I-I don't know what it was I…"

"Vi it's okay, you're going to be okay." Mirage said as she placed a hand on Violet's cheek. "Dr. Sunbright was able to figure out what you were injected with some form of the alien virus from a few years back. From what he could tell the virus has undergone some mutations and he wants to keep you under observation, but you're not contagious and you are certainly not going to grow a second head or anything." Much to Mirage's delight and relief that last bit caused her girlfriend to laugh.

"A pity, there would be twice of me to annoy Dash with." As if on cue a sudden gust of wind announced her brother's entrance into the room. It never ceased to amaze Violet how much one could grow as person while still simply looking like a taller version of when they were younger. For all the patience and foresight he gained throughout his teenage years, Speedy a.k.a. Dash Parr was still quite recognizable with his red and black Incredible suit and slicked back blonde hair.

"HeyVioletyouokayIcameassoonasIheardDocsaidyouwere sickbutnotcontagioussoyoualrightohheyMirage!" Then again maybe he didn't change too much. Violet merely shook her head in bemused silence as her brother caught his breath.

Recovering from her fit of giggles Mirage was the first to answer. "Yes Dash Violet is fine just a little sick and yes she isn't contagious."

"Yup, apparently I got hit with a dose of that alien virus."

"The one that boosted our powers a few years back?!" Dash asked incredulously to which Violet simply nodded enjoying the frustration and disbelief playing across her brother's face. "That is SO unfair!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Dash…" Mirage took a deep breath before she continued hoping for once that she wasn't going to be walking away from the coming encounter with a bruise. Then again their rapport with each other had been steadily improving the more they worked together. "Is your mother you know…?"

"Mad at you?" He finished for her to which the super spy simply nodded. "Nope."

"Really?!" Both Mirage and Violet said in unison.

"Yeah I was surprised too but apparently she was more pissed off at Uncle Rick and the National Supers Agency for splitting us up for these missions anyway. So no worries about being slapped or anything."

"Mom's been getting along with Mirage a lot better over the past few years, besides I had a nice long talk with her about it a few months ago." Violet said calmly before groaning a little and turning a slight shade of green before calming once again.

Mirage handed Violet a glass of water that had been sitting on the nearby table, and after Violet had taken a sip the super spy voiced her concern. "Everything's okay then?"

"Yeah…" Violet said before a wry smile appeared on her lips. "Only one piece of furniture was destroyed during the conversation."

"What!?" It was Mirage and Dash's turn to speak in unison this time.

"_I_ got _you_ guys this time."

"Anyway…" Dash continued hoping his sister was in fact just kidding. "Can we please go back to the whole you having souped up super powers thing?"

"I am afraid it may be a bit more complicated than that bubbeleh." A voice said from the doorway. Turning toward the doorway revealed that both Mr. and Mrs. Parr, also still in their red and black super suits, had been joined by the diminutive form of Doctor Sunbright himself. However before the good doctor could continue he was interrupted by a green faced Violet flailing her arms violently.

"I got it!" Helen shouted as she stretched her arms to grab the small garbage bin and bring it to her daughters.

* * *

In a dark room, hidden within a forgotten city, underneath a remote island somewhere in the Antarctic, a lone woman gazed at a swirling mass of colors floating above a pedestal. The pedestal although made of marble and crafted to remind one of Auguste Rodin's "The Gates of Hell", was relatively unimportant. No what was important to the lone woman still draped in her torn and stained grey robe was the cacophony of colors that to most would hold little meaning. To those savvy to such things the chaotic mass of colors vaguely forming a swirl would be more important than thousands of lives. But of all the colors dancing across her vision one in particular, a small almost unnoticeable blood red stain was far more important than the others.

"Veral…" The alternate Violet turned upon hearing her name. Having long since abandoned her birth name she took solace in being called by her new one. It certainly helped distance herself from her- no they weren't _her_ failures, they were Violet's and she would pay for her incompetence. Looking over her longtime ally she noted that he had yet to change out of his blood stained robes either, nor had he taken off his mask, but then again that was expected at this point.

"Grigori are you sure you don't want to rest or change first?"

"No." Grigori than purposely strode over to the pedestal gazing at the colors, the telepath's helmet hiding any thoughts that his face might betray. "I am more concerned about you, seeing the Violet of this universe couldn't have been easy let alone seeing Mir…"

"She's naïve and weak." Veral sharply stated cutting off her companion.

Sighing Grigori briefly considered holding his tongue lest he further infuriate his friend, but all things considered this information was too urgent not to bring to Veral's attention. "I have some unfortunate news… Phage has entered this universe as well."

"What is he doing here?" Veral did nothing to hide the growing rage within her.

"Aside from giving every telepath within one hundred thousand light years a migraine when he entered this universe, he doesn't appear to be causing too much trouble. From what I've managed to gather he is merely lying dormant for now although his influence may spark a minor war or two somewhere in the world."

Veral weighed her options; Phage was an annoyance but not one that caught her unaware. An instigator of conflict if there ever was one Phage despised anything that was static. It wouldn't be long before Phage grew bored and decided to interfere.

"Would you like me to leak this information to the N.S.A.?"

"No leak it to Global Justice. I'd rather have the N.S.A. and The Incredibles focused on us while Global Justice can hinder whatever it is that Phage is ultimately planning."

"As you wish." Grigori said with a slight bow. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes… how's Shifty?"

"He is recovering, we gave him a dose of the virus that you gave to Violet so hopefully when he is one hundred percent again he will be even stronger."

"Thank you, you are dismissed Grigori." As her companion left the room Veral turned her gaze back to the pedestal of swirling colors. It took her a moment to find Phage's influence, a small golden light almost insignificant in the Aether of magic that overlapped the Milky Way. "Phage for once you and I might just have a common goal, pity we don't have common patrons."

* * *

Cleaning the mess Violet had made all over her mother's fore arms, heedless of whether or not it got on his lab coat Doctor Sunbright continued. "So you see while it looks as though the virus is similar at glance it is quite different now from when I was studying it all those years ago."

"So what's the worst case scenario Doc?" Bob Parr asked nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. Despite his tremendous strength and heroic disposition when all was said and done he was still a father worried for his only daughter's well-being.

Doctor Sunbright shrugged as if this situation was the stuff of everyday for him, since it in fact was. "The worst case scenario is highly unlikely so I really think there is no need to worry about it."

Helen brought herself down to the diminutive man's eye level and firmly but softly asked; "Doctor… please?"

Dr. Sunbright sighed before finishing up his cleaning of Helen's arms. "As you all know Violet's powers, unlike the rest of the family, barring Jack-Jack, Violet's powers are based off of her mental faculties rather than the physical. Too much stress to her force fields and it can overload Violet's brain and render her unconscious. The altered virus has seemingly mutated Violet's entire nervous system to compensate for this deficiency, allowing Violet to once again use her force fields with greater intensity and allow for a much broader use in offense."

"You haven't mentioned how this might be dangerous for my daughter." Bob stated slightly annoyed to be led on like this.

"A yes my apologizes bubbeleh. You see while the virus seems to have given a useful mutation her nervous system has yet to acclimate to it. Should Violet use her force fields before her body is completely ready she runs the risk of coma… or death."

"Garbage please!" Violet demanded as the color left her face again. As Mirage handed it to her this time and Bob looking like he would need his own garbage bin soon, Helen took the opportunity to add her two cents.

"So it's simple Violet won't go on anymore missions until she is capable and she will even stay her so you can run whatever tests you need sound good?"

"Mom I can make these decisions myself!" Violet whined reminding everyone in the room of when she was younger.

"She knows that sweetie, she's just worried like the rest of us." Mirage then handed Violet the glass of water again.

"But this doesn't make any sense." Dash pointed out his face uncharacteristically serious. "Why would the bad guys go through the trouble of powering up one of the good guys?"

"A test run perhaps?" Bob put forth as he ran his hand through his hair. "Test it out on someone else before they risk it on their own?"

"Well… the alternate me said…" Before Violet could continue everyone immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Alternate you?"


	3. Reassurance and Rage

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay this is where the story is going to start to take a darker turn. I'll try to keep some humor in here where I can so long as it doesn't take away from the tone of the story. Also I don't care what anyone says Mirage has one helluva a sexy accent.

* * *

Ricker Dicker let out a heavy sigh as he walked out of the research lab of the National Supers Agency. His plain grey suit and apparent agitated demeanor almost seemed at odds with the young faces desperately trying to come up with devices to protect civilians from the ever constant threat of rogue supers. Those types of scientists, researchers, and engineers where both a blessing and a curse as far as he was concerned, while their drive could craft miracles, they ran the risk of losing their humanity to their ambition. Then again so do we all. Human fault that was the ultimate subject that everything in his line of work seemed to boil down to, for example what could it take to turn a young super who held such promise into a villain? It was a simple question that had the entirety of the N.S.A. scrambling for an answer. Not three weeks ago Violet Parr, a young woman who had long since grown into her role as protector and hero, had told her family, Mirage, and Doctor Sunbright of her encounter with an alternate version of herself. If what Violet said turned out to be true, and in Dicker's experience the crazier something sounded the more likely it was true, than the compromise of sensitive information was almost a certainty. And even if it wasn't truly an alternate Violet and merely a clone or another shapeshifter, well those prospects presented their own series of problems. There were times where he would have liked to say that he missed the good ol' days. The days where incompetent evil masterminds came up with convoluted plans to do something that would ultimately have no tangible effect on anyone but their arch nemesis, and would eventually fail due to some obvious blunder that could have easily been rectified with a little more patience. Now he had to deal with super-villians and evil masterminds whose machinations could be classified as war crimes. From people who would attempt to subtly influence the world's populace by drugging food supplies, to the more straight forward psychopaths who merely want to open up gates to some unspeakable un-reality flooding the world with horrors born of nightmare. He wanted to say he missed the good ol' days, but the truth is those things existed back then too the difference was that he was simply ignorant of them. The old adage of ignorance being bliss came to mind, but if everyone was ignorant there would be no heroes.

Lost in his musings Rick almost failed to notice the young man who had been walking beside him through the sterile halls of the N.S.A. "Xander, are you just going to follow me or do you need something?"

"Sorry Mr. Dicker. You just looked like you were deep in thought and I didn't want to disturb you until well…"

Rick quietly regarded the young man, his face failing to betray any annoyance he may or may not have felt. If Xander's dirty green lab coat and disheveled blonde hair were any indication he was up all night working. "When was the last time you got some sleep son?"

"A few days ago." Xander stated oblivious as to why such a question may be important. "I've been working on some exciting new pieces of equipment and while I was working on the hover board my spatial monitor went off again."

"Are you sure?"

Xander almost looked hurt at the question. "My instruments are always accurate. There were three major time/space distortions within the span of two months. I think Violet may be right we may have visitors from another universe here."

"All right then. Do you think you could pin point where or when these distortions took…" The sound of two people arguing rather loudly cut off any request he was about to make. "We will continue this after I go see who is antagonizing Violet about Mirage today."

"Maybe I should go with you this time."

Rick thought it over briefly before nodding his agreement. Xander's presence would hopefully act as a reminder to his fellow agents that reform was possible. Although in Xander's case he did not do anything illegal he merely came from a family of super-villians. Mirage's situation was a little trickier, although she didn't kill anyone herself she was an accessory to dozens of murders and despite her "recruitment" into the N.S.A. many felt more drastic actions should have been taken. Turning a corner revealed the location of the budding conflict. Violet dressed in her civilian clothes was arguing with a senior agent near the elevators. The agents who had better things to do opted to give the arguing pair a wide berth as they either left or proceeded to use the elevators. "Agent Samson is there a problem?" Rick asked his tone completely neutral. Samson was the type of person who had never had an original thought in his entire life. A zealous man who believed that as long as one followed The System everything would work out in the end. He seemed utterly incapable of understanding that although The System was great for most contingencies humans were more often than not complex creatures that required creative thinking.

"No Rick I was just reminding Miss Parr here why her girlfriend belongs in prison."

"That's not fair!" Although her tone was controlled every word betrayed the building rage within the young woman. Rick could only imagine what Samson might have said before he showed up to have gotten Violet into such a state. "Since Mirage joined the N.S.A. she's saved countless lives surely that means something."

"She didn't join the N.S.A. she was forced to work for us or she would have been put away for life. And quite frankly I feel as though her usefulness has ended so I'm going to present the board of directors with a proposal detailing why we should put her away. Furthermore…"

"Hey now that isn't entirely fair." Xander said deciding to put his two cents in. "I come from a family of villians and yet the N.S.A. has trusted me enough to make all sorts of high tech devices. Heck Larry was a villainous henchman and now he leads his own squad of former villians. A _whole_ squad of former villians fighting for truth and justice!"

Rick took this moment to interrupt. "Agent Samson are you aware why Mirage joined up with Syndrome in the first place?"

"I'm sure she has a very convincing sob story but whatever it is it's no excuse for being an accessory in dozens of murders."

"Of course it isn't an excuse but her sob story as you put is why she isn't locked up right now." Before Samson could interrupt Dicker held up his hand silencing his fellow agent at once. "When Mirage was a little girl her parents got caught in a battle between a super known as HedgePhase and the villian Morning Gloria. HedgePhase could create and control any plants in the vicinity so long as there was some amount of organic matter. During the battle HedgePhase got desperate and started using civilians as the organic matter necessary for his powers to work. Could you imagine being a little girl looking on in horror as a plant erupted from your mother and father's bodies? So yes what Mirage did when she worked for Syndrome is truly terrible and there is no excuse for her actions but in a way we are responsible for her joining Syndrome in the first place. We failed to hold HedgePhase accountable for his actions."

"So what?!" Samson demanded. "We do the same thing with Mirage and refuse to hold her accountable?"

"No." Agent Dicker plainly stated. "We place a truly repentant individual where she can do the most good instead of having her rot in a cell and letting her talents go to waste."

Although Agent Samson was silent his expression was that of a man who knew when he was defeated.

"Uncle Rick, Xander, thank you." Violet solemnly said.

"Go home Violet the higher ups would rather you have some more downtime anyway make sure your powers are a little more stable."

"…I'll go give the proposal another look." Agent Samson said as he walked away from the group. Once he was far enough away that he deemed it safe to do so "Agent Samson" quieted his turbulent mind. "Did you get all that Grigori?"

"Yes I did, and you are aware that my telepathy only affects those that I wish it to. You need not worry that others may hear our conversation Shifty."

"Uhh well."

"Do not worry about it we acquired more information than we needed."

"So are we still gonna try to get Mirage thrown in jail?"

"Feeling a tad sympathetic are you Shifty?"

"Well…"

"Remember what we stand against we do not have the luxury of regret. We will not be attempting to have Mirage incarcerated. Instead we will locate this HedgePhase and "recruit" him to our cause."

* * *

Mirage sat on the sofa that she and Violet picked out in the apartment that the government had issued her. The sofa like most of the furniture that came with the apartment was drab, practical and boring. While the practical part was fine Mirage preferred to have an apartment that didn't scream; "You are only living here because the government controls nearly every aspect of your life!" Thankfully when Violet moved in she had agreed with Mirage that they needed new livelier furniture that more easily expressed who they were. Despite the various changes that were made, Mirage felt that the changes themselves were a constant reminder of her servitude to the N.S.A. and just added to her growing frustration lately. If that wasn't enough she had been somewhat preoccupied with the idea of the alternate universe since the events that occurred three weeks ago. Did it have an alternate her? Was Violet her partner in that world too? Where her parents alive? Would they… approve of the choices that their daughter had made? It was doubtful her parents would have approved of her joining up with Syndrome even if they understood her reasons. But would they have approved of Mirage taking Violet as her partner? Yes, partner, they've only been together for a few years but the word "lover" didn't seem to resonate with the bond they shared. Ultimately, maybe all these questions didn't matter she and Violet were together in this universe here and now and if this alternate Violet was a threat to that, well she would regret it. So lost was Mirage in her thoughts she had failed to notice a disembodied purple shirt and pair of black pants slink through their apartment door.

"I can smell your perfume Vi."

"Aww, can't you be surprised for me?" Violet asked in mock dejection.

Mirage giggled enjoying the comfort of her partner's familiar antics. When on a mission or fighting crime Violet may take part in the banter some heroes where known for, but only when she was alone with Mirage did Vi let out her pouty yet playful side. "Sorry Vi, next time I'll be sure to exclaim my surprise in a southern belle accent, how about that?"

Violet shook her head as she proceeded to cuddle up next to Mirage. "Your southern belle accent sucks, besides I like your natural voice much better. It makes almost everything you say sexy."

"Really, what about this? Hello board of directors of the N.S.A. I've unleashed a swarm of baboons to defecate upon each of your respective houses good day. Did that sound sexy Vi?" Mirage noticed how Violet's expression quickly became somber at the mention of the N.S.A. "Relax Vi, besides where would I get a swarm of baboons."

"There was an agent at HQ. He was going to bring a proposal over to the board of directors calling for you arrest."

"Oh?" Mirage tentatively asked hoping her voice didn't sound too worried. "What happened?"

"Uncle Rick, and Xander, and I talked him down. It doesn't look like he's going to pursue it."

"That's good then, nothing new but good news none the less."

"Wait!" Violet said as she adjusted herself so that she was face to face with her girlfriend. "What do you mean it is nothing new?"

"I didn't want to worry you besides most of it occurred before we started dating anyway." Mirage said in what she hoped was her most nonchalant voice.

"Most of what?"

The older woman let out a heavy sigh she figured it would probably be best to get it all out in the open anyway. "Every few months since I began working at the National Supers Agency someone would come along with a proposal to have me incarcerated or worse. Then someone would remind everyone else I was still useful and they would just send me on a suicide mission. They figured at best I would be performing my government appointed duties at worst well…"

"This isn't right." Violet said tears threatening to fall as they did every time the subject of Mirage's past were brought up. "If things were different if the N.S.A. had done a better job, if HedgePhase hadn't killed your parents in the first place!"

"All the "ifs" in the world couldn't fill the graves of the people who I helped kill." Mirage said her voice cracking. "I made my choice Vi and I have to live with the nightmares. I do regret it though. But at the same time I'm glad it was you and your father who showed me I was wrong. You two showed me not all supers are bad."

"I wish I could have changed things somehow you know?"

"I know Vi, you're a real hero you know that?"

"Thanks." Violet sheepishly said as her face lit up in a blush. "I love you Mirage, no matter what happens please never doubt that."

"I won't and I love you too." With that Mirage pulled Violet into a hug and took comfort in the warmth and scent of her body.

* * *

In the dark bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Parr with only a faint beam of moon light providing any form of illumination. Helen lay awake staring at the ceiling hoping that by some miracle sleep would come as easily to her as it seemed to always come to her husband. As a super her entire life had been turbulent to put it mildly, and that was before she got married and gave birth to three super powered children. By no means did she regret any of it, from giving birth to Jack-Jack while her husband and daughter held off a mob of supervillians to the time she and Mirage confronted her villainous ex-boyfriend Xerek. Every day was another adventure with those she loved. But the revelations of the past three weeks had added a whole new obstacle to overcome. If what her daughter said was true than there was a Violet Parr from an alternate universe acting against them. If need be could she do it? Could she fight her own daughter even if it wasn't _her_ Violet?

* * *

Veral let out a growl of frustration as she walked the crumbling hallways of the chambers she had dubbed the barracks. There were far too few acolytes to join her cause, far too few mages in this world. A side effect of a world that hadn't given itself over to fell forces no doubt, a world where there was no perverse corruption turning the populace into depraved maniacs willing to do anything for a sexual high. The thought of her old world and what that corruption caused her family to do to her beloved, threatened to send her into a rage. They paid for their sins in blood and souls as will this world before the same corruption takes hold as it undoubtedly will. But first they need more pawns to act as fodder and then there was the Violet of this world, she needed to sculpt the Violet of this world into a suitable sacrifice lest her masters take back the power they gave her in the first place.

"Veral." Grigori's voice rang through her mind as if he were standing right next to her.

"You have good news I trust?"

"Yes." Grigori made sure to choose his next words very carefully. "As it turns out the Mirage of this universe was not the saint she was in our universe."

"Oh?"

"Yes, a super named HedgePhase killed her parents, so she grew up hating supers for most of her life. She also briefly worked for this universe's Syndrome."

"Good job Grigori, this is all information we can use. Do you have any idea where this HedgePhase is?"

"Unfortunately no. My apologizes Veral."

"It's okay I know someone who would know. Edna Mode we will see if this universe's version of her is the same as ours was. Tell Shifty to discontinue his infiltration of the N.S.A. so that we may have our full strength when we assault Edna's compound."

"An assault? Are you sure?"

"Yes I want the denizens of this world to know the price of depravity and see the eyes of those who lost everything to the vile acts of others. This world will know our pain!"

* * *

ENDING NOTE: I wanted to give Mirage a really messed up back story. I figured that even though Mirage switched sides in the movie and was a member of the N.S.A. in the comics it would take something truly tragic to make her a really sympathetic character.


End file.
